What They Say About Human Rights Watch

"Consider Human Rights Watch, which does the best reporting, period, in its field. In a new initiative, Upworthy is partnering with Human Rights Watch, Climate Nexus, and ProPublica for coverage of human rights, climate change, and economic policy. " “We don’t think it’s quite enough to promise to bring more attention to these topics: We’re also proud to announce we’re teaming up with some experts in these fields to get the coverage just right,” Upworthy said on its blog.

The key word in Upworthy’s post is “experts”—because that’s the essential quality Human Rights Watch and others bring to the ecosystem.

"It is with great regret that we receive these allegations from Human Rights Watch especially without given us the opportunity to respond before the publication. We refute these allegations and the government is willing to meet with Human Rights Watch officials to discuss their concerns."

"AMBASSADOR RICE: From what we can tell--and, as you know, the journalists are banned and...

MR. GREGORY: Right.

AMBASSADOR RICE: ...and we are relying on reports from Human Rights Watch and other observers--there has been less violence, very little so far in Tripoli, although that may be changing. In Benghazi, in, in the coastal areas, we're very concerned about reports of security forces firing on peaceful protesters."

-Susan Rice, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Meet the Press, February 20, 2011(commenting on the situation in Libya at the start of its ongoing revolution)

Translation: " The Non-Governmental Organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has become the international spokesperson of the Venezuelan counter-revolution and an ideological weapon of the north American empire."

"This is a report by some highly frustrated and self-appointed kingmaker institution in the U.S. Just because what they dreamt of in Ethiopia didn’t take place, they are doing whatever they can to tarnish the image of the country.”

"In its persistent desire to attack Sri Lanka to achieve the goals that the LTTE and its foreign supporters failed through the use of arms... HRW and similar groups do not bother to do any homework to know the facts of the situation in the IDP relief villages in Vavuniya. It is a Goebbelsian approach to anti-Sri Lanka propaganda. Repeat lies about the country, its Government and its people as often and as long as possible to make the world believe it is the truth."
- Lucien Rajakarunanayake, Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence website, August 24, 2009.
(In response to the news release, Sri Lanka: Floods Threaten Camp Detainees)

"The government of Guinea refuses to bow to the blackmail of NGOs that are trying to establish contacts with the government to set up hidden contracts to try to clean up their image, as is the case with the famous Human Rights Watch, whose agents have spent years pulling from their sleeves information that lacks all transparency and objectivity. So some agents of this organization have spent years trying to get the government of Guinea to buy its services in exchange for ending this disinformation campaign. The government of Guinea is not for sale. Human Ritch Wath [sic] start cleaning your house because of the financial setbacks of the global crisis provoked by your financial and business institutions."
- Miguel Oyono, head of the information office at the presidential office, The New York Times, July 9, 2009.
(In response to the report, Well Oiled: Oil and Human Rights in Equatorial Guinea)

"American organizations, including HRW, have no credibility. Let them go check the violations undertaken by the previous administration from Guantanamo to the flying prisons to the violations of human rights in Gaza before they talk about other countries."
- Syrian cabinet minister, The Washington Post, February 25, 2009.
(The Post reporter noted: "Human Rights Watch has issued numerous reports, statements and letters on those subjects.")

Human Rights Watch wrote in response: After a careful review, we have found that the allegations in your letter do not stand up to scrutiny. The issues covered in our report have been thoroughly researched and the substantive findings are based on a wide range of diverse and credible sources. In seeking to prove otherwise, you have misrepresented both the substance and the source material of the report. You have criticized us for making arguments that we have not made. You have taken our words out of context (including the quotation you attribute to Mr. Vivanco) and distorted their meanings in order to make your points. Read the complete response.

Asked by the Associated Press whether Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch would be allowed to enter Zimbabwe, he said: "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Let them keep out."
- Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, The Independent, September 26, 2008

Translation: "The Government [of Venezuela] has done what it had to do, informed these people that they gravely violated the constitutionality of the country, which we're not going to put up with, nor will we tolerate if any foreigner comes to try and sully the dignity of our Republic, the dignity of our people and our institutions."

Ingushetia's government-appointed human rights ombudsman called the work of Human Rights Watch and other rights groups "fascist," adding that the Human Rights Watch report was "meant to destabilize the situation." The report documents human rights abuses committed by law enforcement and security forces in Ingushetia.
-Kerim-Sultan A. Kokurkhaev, The New York Times, June 26, 2008

"First of all, anyone that is arguing that somehow, a very independent organization like Human Rights Watch is somehow doing the United States' bidding need look no further than most of the reactions we've had to some of their other comments. They are an independent organization, they set their own agenda, and they operate on their own. "
- Tom Casey, Deputy Spokesman, State Department Press Briefing, repsonding to a question about the report, "Civilians under Assault: Hezbollah's Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War". August 29, 2007.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it found the latest report by Human Rights Watch on Somalia factually and morally unacceptable. The statement by the Ministry of Information said Human Rights Watch was preparing as part of a campaign to victimizing Ethiopia with one sided and falsified information."
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia as published in The Ethiopian News Agency. August 14, 2007.

" The report of the Human Rights Watch entitled "Return to War - Human Rights under Siege" is largely tendentious, and is replete with generalizations. It refers to issues that have been largely resolved. These largely unconfirmed and unsubstantiated allegations and outdated information do not justify the demand for a special UN Observer Mission on Human Rights in Sri Lanka."
- the Presidential Secretariat. August 7, 2007.

"The [Sri Lankan] government has repeatedly denied having any part in the Karuna group's activities. It reiterated its position Tuesday, calling the Human Rights Watch report 'baseless and very vile.'"
- Sri Lankan government spokesperson, International Herald Tribune. January 24, 2007.

"'Regretfully, in spite of their observations, their eyesight has always had problems,' a ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said. 'Maybe they are wearing tinted glasses, or only squinting.'"
- Liu Jianchao, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, responding to the World Report 2007, International Herald Tribune. January 12, 2007.

"Now for the top story tonight, reaction from Human Rights Watch. With us now, Kenneth Roth, the executive director of that group and a stand up guy--who always comes in to debate the issues."
-Bill O'Reilly, of "The O'Reilly Factor" on the FOX News Channel, interviewing Kenneth Roth (read transcript). November 17, 2004.

"The accusation by Human Rights Watch is a fabrication and is somewhat akin to a fish completely out of water."
-Nguyen Dinh Thiet, director of the Children's Department of the National Committee for Population, Family and Children, responding to a Human Rights Watch report that street children in Hanoi are arbitrarily rounded up and sent to abusive detention centers. Cited in VietNamNet Bridge, November 16, 2006.

"I have to admit being a bit confused when I was told about the presentation of the new 'Human Rights Swatch'. I thought people were talking about that admirable NGO we all know -- and which played a significant part in the effort to bring about the creation of the Human Rights Council. I'm obviously referring to Human Rights Watch."
- Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, speaking in Geneva Switzerland June 19, 2006 HRW reports on the Human Rights Council

"In Latin America today, Human Rights Watch is in many circumstances more powerful than the Pentagon, though the Pentagon has regained some relevance in recent times. These are the facts of life, although rarely stated this way."
- Abraham F. Lowenthal, Professor of International Relations, USC, and President Emeritus, Pacific Council on International Policy, speaking at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), Santiago, Chile, May 23, 2006 HRW reports on the Americas